Sega Nerds

TGS07: Valkyrie of the Battlefield hands-on impressions

by Graham on September 26th, 2007

Next up (and hopefully a shorter piece), for my TGS coverage, is Valkyrie of the Battlefield: Gallian Chronicles, or VotB for short.

The booth itself, had a large tank ontop, and was setup to look a bit like a bunker of sorts. Outside was another sega Cosplayer, dressed up like one of the characters in game…

Again, like with NiGHTS, Sega frowned upon people taking photos or filming people playing, yet they had another large tv screen hanging for the queue, which they didn’t mind people taking footage from… bizarre. So again, not all the pictures you see will be from TGS, I’ll get them from Sega, but luckily I got some video footage (you’ll see later).

Once in the booth, the small number of people let in, at a time, were lined up in front of another large TV set, and an attractive Japanese lady would stand up and debrief you. While being debriefed, you are treated to several short video clips, made to show you the games story, and also basic combat training - like press O to fire.

Unfortunately not knowing the language, most of this was all over my head, and I found myself drifting off when the lady was talking. But that’s more my problem, I’m in Japan, I should really have learnt some of the language first. The training segment was handy though, as it does help even non-Japanese speakers to understand the games format, before playing. As with all exhibitions, the companies prefer to keep playing time to about 5-10 mins a time, so one did not have to waste their valuable time, trying to work out the controls.

The basic storyline, as far as I could work out, is that the game is set in an alternate universe to our own - they show a large world map at the start, and focus on an area very similar to that of Europe, but the islands and countries are noticeably different to that of their real life counterparts.

The video shows a peaceful town/country of Gallian, with windmills and rivers, which suddenly falls under attack. And then they show 4 young soldiers taking to arms, riding in a tank etc.. and doing random stuff, like standing in a field. Anyway, the general idea is that you are part of a very small squad of soldiers, who have sworn to protect their country from invasion, and it’s up to you to try and stop the invading force, before they conquer you.

Anyway, after the debriefing, we were led to our own PS3s, and told to start winning the war.

One of the key features to this game, that instantly stands out are the graphics. The game has been made to look much like an old cartoon, with pencil line marks and water colours, dubbed “Canvas” style graphics. In fact many earlier screenshots could have been mistaken for concept art. But any shots you may have thought to be drawings will most likely be in game graphics.

This is something very special, as it gives the game a very unique charm to it. Much like with Cel-Shaded graphics, (Jet Set/Grind Radio), Sega are the pioneers for this new style, which makes the game very special for many Sega fans… and also gives PS3 owners something to cheer about.

Well you’ve seen the screenshots, what does it look like in real life?

In motion, the game looks ever so slightly rougher than any screenshots you will have seen… very slightly. when moving around, you can see the tiny polygons/pixels a bit more, as many of the screenshots are so smooth, you can’t really see anything to say it’s in game footage - which is why some people have mistaken the shots for concept art.

But once you stand still, the game look exactly like the screenshots. And please don’t miss-quote me, I say they are “rougher” in motion, but they are certainly not bad at all, I was impressed.

I’m not sure how far along this build is, but I did notice some very small pop-up in the game.. but don’t worry it was tiny, if I hadn’t been looking at that particular point of the screen, I could have easily missed it. But that single piece of pop-up was the only flaw I could see in the graphics. They are very impressive.

However, to be honest, I’m not sure how far the graphics are pushing the PS3. While they look fantastic, I can’t help feel that the style is quite easy to pull off for the PS3… or perhaps even the Wii. No I’m not hinting the game should be ported to the Wii. I’m just saying that, if you are expecting some new crazy form of graphics that will blow all competitors out of the water, then this game probably won’t be it.

But, this game is a perfect example to all developers of how to make a game look good. It certainly says something when possibly the most impressive looking game, of the whole exhibition, doesn’t push a consoles potential. As I say, I could be wrong, and this Canvas style may be hard to pull off. But it still stands, that the game does not feature outstanding water effects, and bright lights, and general ‘bling’ that developers try to put into games these days. Yet due to the unique art direction and simple nature of the graphics, VotB: GV is my favourite looking game of the show.

How does it play though?

Someone specifically asked me to find out how many troops you can command, and how the game plays. Well from playing the TGS game, you control 2 guys, 2 girls and 1 tank. I’m not sure if you gain more troops later on, but that is how it was on the level I played on.

The game plays out like a 3D strategy game, but unlike Command and Conquer type games, you are seeing the action from ground level, and control the characters one at a time.

First off the player has his/her turn. You can see the immediate area of the battlefield - where your troops are position and just around them - on the world map. From the map you can select which troop you want to use. Once selected the camera zooms down to where the troop is and you take control in a 3rd person form.

Now each character has different stats and weapons, but control the same. Along the bottom of the screen, you will see an orange/red bar. This represents your movement. You can move anywhere you like, as long as there is colour in the bar. Once the bar is fully drained, you cannot move at all.

So you have to plan your movement carefully. There is no point running into a load of enemy troops, and getting stuck there, prime for being shot at. It’s best to work out exactly where you want to go first, and don’t wander around too much, that bar goes down pretty fast.

The other main control is firing. At any time during your go, you can fire at the enemy. Press aim, and you get your crosshairs up, or for sniper you go into first person, and then you press fire once. Depending on the character, you will use up a different number of bullets. You have a Sniper, a Heavy gunner (rockets)- both men - then you have a Rifleman and a Machine gunner - both female. Oh and the tank of course. The sniper, heavy gunner and tank all use one round each time. The rifleman fires about 3 shots at the enemy, while the machine gunner fires about 30. So again, depending on the enemy you face, you may wish to choose your targets wisely.

Once you fire, you cannot shoot again. But if you still have movement left in your bar, you can quite happily run away and hide or duck behind some cover, if need be. Once you have used up one characters shot and movement, you can then change to the next character of your choice and move and attack with them.

After you finish your turn, inevitably it is the computers turn. They follow the same rules as you, but for some reason in the games I played, they rarely moved from their position to try and attack you. They only really shot if they could see you.

The gameplay is actually quite simple, but so much fun. When I first played, I kept running into fights, not really caring, which was very fool hardy. Though I didn’t actually die at all.

One key element of play, I found, was to position your troops just right. In the TGS demo, you start by going up a slope and facing some enemies and a tank, and then follow the street round doing a u-bend, to face more troops and another tank. Well once you take out the first bunch of enemies, you can then take side alley or the main road to the squad. In the side alley, you find a ladder - using the ladder takes you onto the roof, and gives you some prime sniping and rocket firing positions. I got very excited when I climbed up there, like I was about to take the enemy by surprise (hehehe).

There are some downsides to play, which took me some time to work out. Getting the aim right on rockets, grenades and tank fire, can be a bitch. You do get a lovely curved arrow that shows roughly where you are firing, but a few times I shot, using the arrow as guidance, and completely missed, normally firing over the enemy.

Also to do with aiming, I found the PS3s stick to be a tad too sensitive at times, and found getting just the right aim, quite hard at times. It is frustrating when you have people watching you, and you can’t quite line up your shot.

The second issue is that each character carries more than one weapon. Usually their main gun, then a side arm and some grenades. This is fine for the troops, but the tank is annoying. Because to know what weapon you are using, you have a symbol in the bottom right of your screen. The problem I had is that the machine-gun bullet symbol for the tank, looked a lot like the cannon fire. So one time I shot bullets at a tank, which did nothing, when I could have destroyed it.

One pretty cool thing about playing, is that even though you take turns, as you come into the line of fire of the enemy, they will fire at you randomly. The shots don’t do much damage, but they add some tension to the gameplay. You will also see your troops firing from time to time, when you don’t control them. Also when you stand next to one of your troops, and fire at an enemy, the troop you aren’t controlling will often fire with you and help take out your victim.

Sound wise, the games effects are pretty good. Good but kind of generic. The typical sounds of explosions and gunshots one may expect from a war game. The music is quite good, but I don’t actually recall any music in the levels, only on the trailers. Also, just like NiGHTS, as the booth was not closed off, the background noise was overpowering the game sounds.

Summary:

Overall Valkyrie of the Battefield was one of the most impressive games I played at TGS. The graphics do look wonderful, the gameplay is spot on. I had a blast playing the game.

While it may not be everyones cup of tea, as the action is quite slow-paced, it is certainly unique. I don’t own a PS3, but this is one game I would really like to get my hands on. Though, as Chris asked me, I highly doubt I would buy a PS3 just for this game. It’s a great game, (so far), but not £450 great. But for those that already own a PS3, I would definitely recommend waiting for this game.

~G~

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POSTED IN: G, Japan, News, Sony PlayStation 3, Video